Ship 25 confirmed as push for Summer replay of Starship test flight
NSF by Chris Bergin May 29, 2023
With the maiden launch of Starship still fresh in the mind, the follow-up flight is set to be just a few months away — this time with the upgraded Booster 9, and the surprising partnership with Ship 25. While the latter doesn’t sport upgrades already employed on sister ships at the production site, the next test will be focused mostly on first stage flight with the booster.
Ship 25 is now at the launch site and awaiting a six-engine static fire test, with Elon Musk noting the pad modifications should be complete in a month, ahead of another month of testing before the next test flight.
The flight of Booster 7 and Ship 24 came after over a month of pad flow, albeit including numerous rollbacks for additional modifications. The next campaign will be completed in relatively short order — even with a few months of pad modifications required after Booster 7 dug a crater and fired up a “rock tornado” during its launch.
The reduction of the pad flow will be a theme for Starship, with the “rapidly” and fully reusable tag holding the ambition of launching on a daily basis from the same pad in future years.
In the interim, SpaceX is aiming to avoid the flying concrete of the maiden launch by installing a water-cooled steel plate and deluge system under the orbital launch mount (OLM). Preparation for its installation has been ongoing over recent weeks at the launch site, ahead of the steel plates being transported in a timeframe of around a month, per Musk.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1662263704262680577?s=20That timeline was provided in a Twitter update that amplified SpaceX’s highlights video of the test flight, with Musk adding that once the modifications to the pad are complete, a month of pad testing would follow.
That testing would include tests with the modifications at the pad, Booster 9‘s integration on the OLM, potentially several cryo proofing and static fire tests, and the full-stack integration of the Ship 25.
More:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/ship-25-confirmed-replay-starship-flight/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TWY0e4Rjc4